Notice to Our Patients of Data Privacy Event

What Happened

On Aug. 9, 2022, University of Florida Health Shands learned that an employee may have inappropriately accessed information in patients’ medical records outside the scope of the employee’s job duties between April 27, 2021 and July 21, 2022.

Number of Patients Affected

UF Health Shands notified approximately 941 patients as a result of this incident.

Types of Information Involved

An investigation into the incident determined that certain patient demographic information (such as name, date of birth, mailing address and phone number), medical record number, physician’s name and limited clinical information (such as diagnosis/conditions and visit dates) may have been accessed or viewed. In some instances, the insurance group and subscriber/policy numbers may have also been involved. This incident did not involve Social Security numbers.

What We Are Doing

Upon learning of this incident, UF Health Shands immediately began an investigation to assess the information impacted and terminated the employee’s access to all medical record and other information systems. This individual is no longer employed by UF Health Shands.

We also engaged a data breach recovery expert and established all required and necessary communications to the affected patients and regulatory officials. All affected patients have been notified by mail about this incident. UF Health Shands has no reason to believe that the information was further used or disclosed; however, out of an abundance of caution, free identity theft protection services, including credit monitoring, were provided to all patients whose insurance group and subscriber/policy numbers may have also been involved.

How Patients Will Know if They Are Impacted

All affected patients have been notified by mail about this incident. If you did not get a letter in the mail but would like to know if your information was affected, please call our dedicated toll-free telephone number at 1-800-939-4170 with voice response and live agents ready to assist you Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. EST.

Who to Contact for More Information

For more information, please contact our toll-free telephone number at 1-800-939-4170, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. EST. Our call center has voice response and dedicated live agents available to assist you with additional information and address any questions or concerns you may have.